Disappearer presents four works all combining acoustic instruments with live electronics. The electronics consist of short snippets of the instruments, which are sampled live in the performance and then looped and projected back through the speakers, so the acoustic and electronic sounds blend.
It is important to Dreyer that these are all live recordings: "It’s music that, for me, thrives best within a concert hall, capturing the ambience that I’ve been interested in preserving", he says. "Not the polished studio recording with flawless performances from the musicians and perfectly calibrated electronics, but rather the live performance situation with all the minor irregularities that naturally come with it."
The opening work Forsvindere 2 begins like a fairy tale with a nursery rhyme-like quality, thanks to the gently chiming sound of the celesta and the steady, simple pulse of the vibraphone. But it is also frozen music, glistening and thawing slowly under a cool winter sun.
Vidder 1 applies layers of breathy bass flute tones to create a ghostly wall. Forsvindere 1 adds a hesitancy to the chiming of glockenspiel, crotales, vibraphone and celesta, through phrases that wind down and restart with each new layer. Most striking of all, Vidder 4 applies electronic glissandi to its loops of organ and harmonium tones.
The works make use of simple, transparent effects, resulting in atmospheric and at times trance-inducing music. "I hope that listeners will give themselves time to sink into the slowness and focus that characterizes the works. It's music that often doesn't use large gestures, but it's music that tries to speak to the attentive ear, while also communicating on a more sensual level," says Dreyer.
Release concert
Disappearer is recorded by NEKO3 (Fei Nie, Kalle Hakosalo and Lorenzo Colombo), flutist Lauren Wuerth and Dreyer himself. Disappearer will be released by Dacapo Records as a digital album and as a limited edition vinyl. Find more information here.
The release is celebrated at a concert in Koncertkirken, Copenhagen on 6 February at 19.30 with live performances of all four works from the album.